1. Field of the Invention
The technology relates to integrated circuits that include drivers for large loads, and in particular to word line drivers for low voltage memory devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Memory integrated circuits access memory cells with word lines powered by word line drivers, capable of driving various voltages at high speed on a large capacitive load. Word line drivers drive associated word lines with various voltage levels that depend on the mode of operation of the memory, where modes for a flash memory can include read, program, and erase operational modes. The voltages used for the various operating modes are often larger than the power supply voltages used for low voltage devices. For example, a word line voltage for a read operation in a flash memory may be about 5 volts, while the supply voltage for the device may be 1.8 volts.
The read mode for many memory devices is often speed critical. However, low voltages that depend on the supply voltage used by the peripheral circuits, including word line decoders and driver selection circuits, can limit the speed of switching for the word line drivers.